Lithoniel Mir
by TrueMaetharanel
Summary: T to be on the safe side. A story I wrote long ago and faraway when I first heard the movies were coming out so you will see that it was not done the best and that the elves were accidentally made evil. Please forgive me!
1. Chapter 1

**Lithôniel Nímmir**

"We must pass through Mirkwood?" A dwarf asked. "The place of our most hated enemies and you will not be coming with us?"

"Yes, Thorin." Gandalf answered wearily. "I must go." To everyone's surprise, Thorin nodded in understanding. "We must find shelter for the night." He announced.

"Well, how about that house over there?" a dwarf asked, pointing to the far edge of the meadow. They had not even noticed it before; it was so old it looked like it might fall any moment but it blended in excellently with the trees behind it.

"Yes, that will do just fine." Gandalf nodded approvingly. Thorin looked less sure but they all followed Gandalf across the field. Kili joked about getting Bombur through but opened the door.

"Somebody's in there!" Kili shouted slamming the door shut again. "A girl!"

"What?" Gandalf asked, he pushed through the doors with Bilbo on his heels and into the room. The house wasn't much, it consisted of a single room with a dirt floor, grass grew in the far corners, there were two ratty chairs and a sheet stuffed with grass was the girl's mattress. Her long and thick dark brown hair flowed over the makeshift pillow of her arm and swept the soil. Her chest moved slowly up and down underneath the blankets, telling them that she was, in fact, sleeping.

Gandalf cautiously moved closer and gazed down at her in surprise. She was tall and her arms were pale though she was dusty.

"Mama…" The girl whispered in her sleep, shifting onto her side. A tendril of hair escaped and tickled her nose; she swiped at it in annoyance. It revealed her ear to be normal and that she was human. Gandalf bent down, his heart held the now familiar heaviness. He pried open one eye and then stumbled back, as if stung.

"Gandalf?" Dwalin said, genuinely concerned.

"I'm all right." Gandalf said with a weak smile. Bilbo looked from the girl to Gandalf in confusion. The girl woke up, hearing the voices, with a frightened shout she leapt away from them and drew her sword that had been tied to her waist.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded, her hands shaking as she pointed it at the thirteen dwarves, Gandalf and Bilbo. Bilbo didn't think it was a very fair number. One against fifteen.

"My lady, we meant no harm." Kili said with a smile that he hoped was unarming. He was about to say something else when he noticed the lady's eyes. The room became immediately silent. Her eyes were dark green like the trees and they had brown runes engraved in them. Gandalf was again alarmed at the sight, though he'd already seen them. He understood what they were. They were Elvish Runes; they meant 'Tree' and 'friend'.

"Hey! How-how…!" Bilbo said in alarm at the sight. Thorin clapped a hand over his mouth with a fierce warning glare. The other dwarves also took the hint but they couldn't stop staring.

"Who are you?" Thorin asked, for once not glaring at a stranger.

"I am Lithôniel, who are you?" She answered, her sword wavering. Thorin took his chance and wrenched it out of her hands. She gave a protesting shout and reached to steal it back but Thorin pushed her away.

"You would do well to merely sit and listen instead of waving swords in others' faces." Thorin said. She kept quiet.

"I am Thorin, this is Gandalf." Thorin introduced. He introduced the rest as well and quickly told her the entire story, it easily won her sympathy and she seemed to have forgotten the sword incident. It surprised Gandalf and the rest to no end that Thorin told her the story, not missing a single detail.

"How horrible!" Lithôniel cried, shaking her head sadly. "I am sorry you have suffered so." Bilbo thought she hadn't fared well herself after she told them of how her mother died by a wild horse that Lithôniel had been trying to tame.

"I just don't understand it!" Lithôniel said with tears in her odd green eyes. "Amoniel was so good, she never seemed the least bit wild, and she was always gentle and kind."

The next morning they were surprised to find Lithôniel preparing sixteen packs with food. They were even more shocked to find three fresh rabbits and wild berries in each pack. The rabbit's eyes were pierced, by an arrow it seemed.

"More meat if I shoot them in the eye." Lithôniel said as explanation, thinking they were disgusted at the sight. It wasn't pretty but Bilbo wondered how she knew archery.

"How did you catch so many Rabbits?" Grub asked in surprise.

"I just have a talent for finding them." She answered.

"Your eyes!" Bilbo cried in shock, noticing them for the first time. Gandalf discreetly elbowed him.

"What?" Lithôniel asked anxiously, looking at him in fright.

"Are such a beautiful brown!" Bilbo improvised.

"Oh, they're brown?" Lithôniel asked, reaching up and touching her cheek right beneath the eye. "I've wondered what color they were for a long time."

"Didn't your mother ever say?" Balin asked in surprise.

"No, but she had brown eyes, so that makes sense." Lithôniel said.

"What about you're Father?" Balin asked gently.

"My Father died when I was two." Lithôniel said quietly, she shook her head, trying to get the sad thoughts out of her mind. When she looked up again, a bright smile was plastered on her face.

"What is this sixteenth pack for?" Thorin asked skeptically, coming out and immediately recognizing what she planned to do.

"I'm coming too!" She cried, realizing he did not plan on allowing her. "Why mayn't I go? You let a hobbit and a wizard comes!"

"She's got something there." Bilbo said.

"You are our burglar, she is a female!" Gloin said. Bilbo shrugged.

""What does it matter if I am female, I know dwarves sometimes allow their women to go to war!" Lithôniel exclaimed.

"But you are not Dwarvish! You are a frail human, look at you!" Thorin said. It was true, she was like a willow tree, she could snap any moment.

"But I can help!" she whispered desperately.

"Thorin…" Thorin looked over to Gandalf. "I think you'd best take her with you. She could help you." Lithôniel looked desperately from Thorin to Gandalf.

"Please?" Lithôniel asked. Thorin looked around the shack; it wasn't a place to live, not even for a cow. And to be stuck there all alone, with only your mother's grave for company…

"Very well. But we're sending you back if we think it wise." Thorin warned. A bright smile lit her features, and her new brown eyes were the color of a warm chocolate drink.

"What happened?" Thorin asked Gandalf as the other Dwarves and Bilbo and Lithôniel readied themselves. "How is it her eyes are now brown?"

"I think," Gandalf began. "That it should be wiser if her…peculiar eyes were not so noticeable."

"You used a spell on her?" Thorin asked. When Gandalf nodded, Thorin silently contemplated for several moments. "I shall not ask you why, only trust that she would be safer this way, though I do believe her eyes have something to do with you wishing us to take her with us." Thorin laughed quietly, surprising Gandalf. "I have never seen green eyes before."

"And I should hope you never see another." Gandalf said quietly. He clapped Thorin on the back and left. Thorin sent Lithôniel away for a menial task so he could fill the rest of the group in.

"Where are we?" Lithôniel whispered. She was surrounded by the most amazing trees she had ever seen. She had to crane her neck, and felt as if her head might snap off, to see the top of the elegant and strong green trees.

"Mirkwood." Thorin said grumpily. Lithôniel looked around herself again, surprised. How could such cruel beings live in such beautiful woods? Her mother had said anyway one who appreciated the beauty of living things could not be all bad. "Can barely see in this!" Lithôniel was confused, she could see clearly, it was a little shadowy but she could see practically everything. Perhaps it was because she'd lived by the forest so long.

Her father had especially loved trees; she supposed that's where she got her longing to go climb them. She sighed as she was forced to go on marching; only having a chance to brush her hand over the mighty trees bark.

_'Mirkwood, it smells of musty leaves and moss. The air seems to even taste of the a thousand living things, plants and animals, living together under one large canopy of trees. The trees surround our road thickly, all strong and tall, long-lived and have seen many things. Vines hang from some, tempting to touch as they dangle right in front of us. And it's dark, but not a frightening dark. No, a natural dark just as it gets dark when the sun goes down._

_The faint rustling of leaves and the calls of bird sometimes pierce the darkness, sometimes even the sound of animals hunting for their meal can be heard, closer than we'd like. But there is no knowing if it is their night prowl or day, for no light, by the sun or moon can be seen overhead. Our lanterns are our light in the dark pathway. The age of the wood overwhelms us most, the wildness that sits in the air around them. It is not safe, and yet it is, as long as we do not disturb the trees, they shall not disturb us. Only watch, and store us into their memory, as all good trees do.'_ Lithôniel paused to asses it, yes that was correct. She closed her worn journal and turned on her side. She liked this forest very much, though the loss of light bothered her a bit too. But it was so beautiful and grand. How could her friends despise it as much as they did?

"Fili! That's mine!" Lithôniel shouted, chasing after him. Everyone else trudged along. Lithôniel, Fili and Kili were the only ones with energy anymore, since they were fifty years younger than the rest of the dwarves. Well, no one really knew how old Lithôniel was, probably a good bit younger than Fili and Kili though. It helped though, seeing them race around; it gave them a little more energy to carry Bombur. And, it was quickly apparent that she would much rather eat plants then her three rabbits so they were evenly divided to the dwarves and Mr. Bilbo. The dwarves couldn't help but be worried and grateful at the same time. Lithôniel seemed to be fine on her diet of rabbit food though, she found all sorts of edible plants to eat in the forest and was therefore the best fed since the dwarves couldn't eat much of the greenery.

"Gwah!" Lithôniel cried as Kili suddenly popped out from behind a tree and tripped her. "Ouch! What was that for?" Lithôniel's glare didn't stop Fili and Kili's laughter, She stood back up, dusting her pants off, trying to regain some dignity.

"Oh that was too good!" Fili laughed harder at her face.

"You guys are jerks!" Lithôniel cried at them, pink in the face. "Balin! Thorin! Did you see what they did?!"

"Dear, just ignore them. They're trying to get your goat." Balin called over his shoulder to angry mutters from her.

"I don't have a goat." Thorin rolled his eyes. She obviously had been to long away from civilization.

"Fili! Kili! Give the girl her sweater back." Thorin called.

"Hey wake up! Wake up, Lithôniel!" Lithôniel woke up with tears streaming down her face from her nightmare. Kili and Fili looked concerned and confused. Thorin stood to the side, gazing in fascination at a handful of diamonds he held.

"Why did you not tell us?" Thorin asked.

"I didn't think it was important." Lithôniel answered shakily, wiping the tears from her face.

"You cry diamonds and pearls, that's not important?!" Thorin bellowed, Lithôniel shrank back away. Balin put his hand on Thorin's shoulder trying to calm him Thorin calmed after fifteen minutes of bellowing at her.

"Is there anything else 'not important' you would like to tell us?" Thorin asked, Lithôniel vigorously shook her head. He nodded and took a deep breath, finally calming down.

"Everyone go back to bed." Thorin commanded. Lithôniel held out her hand but Thorin walked back to his bed, pocketing the diamonds and pearls. Lithôniel blinked, had he not seen her, or was this greed?

Fili started a song; she had heard them humming it to themselves several times but never heard the actual words.

"Far over the Misty Mountains rise  
Lead us standing upon the height  
What was before we see once more  
Is our kingdom a distant light

Fiery mountain beneath a moon  
The words aren't spoken, we'll be there soon  
For home a song that echoes on  
And all who find us will know the tune

Some folk we never forget  
Some kind we never forgive  
Haven't seen the back of us yet  
We'll fight as long as we live

All eyes on the hidden door  
To the Lonely Mountain borne

We'll ride in the gathering storm  
Until we get our long forgotten gold

We lay under the Misty Mountains cold  
In slumbers deep, and dreams of gold  
We must awake, our lives to make  
And in the darkness a torch we hold

From long ago when lanterns burned  
Until this day our hearts have yearned  
A fate unknown, the Arkenstone  
What was stolen must be returned

We must away ere break of day  
To find our song for heart and soul

Some folk we never forget  
Some kind we never forgive  
Haven't seen the end of it yet  
We'll fight as long as we live

All eyes on the hidden door  
To the Lonely Mountain borne  
We'll ride in the gathering storm  
Till we get our long forgotten gold

Far away the Misty Mountains cold."

_'Come hither, sing for me. You say, and they may come, but it is not of nature or family that they would sing. But Gold and riches beyond compare. And as I jot down these things, dear diary, my only confidante, I realize, that maybe the only reason I was allowed to come thus far, is my own oddness. Perhaps, they only wanted me along because of the diamonds and pearls I cry. Even as I write these thoughts, a pearl has rolled onto my small journal. If Thorin saw it he would take it and put it in his pouch he keeps._

_Maybe they aren't my family after all.'_

"Hey! Bilbo, I have a question." Lithôniel cried, catching up with him, Bilbo's eyes widened as she came to stop right beside him which was highly unfortunate since Fili and Kili were waiting right behind the tree he was now leaning on to scare her.

"Yes?" Bilbo asked politely, trying not to show the apprehension he felt.

"Well…It's kind of hard to ask…"

"Well, I'll try to help anyway I can. Go ahead." Bilbo said, acutely aware that the twins were right behind him and listening to every word.

"Howdoyougetaguytonoticeyou?" Lithôniel asked in a big rush so it took him a moment to decipher it. Now it was his turn to be flustered, never having given much thought to females.

"Well, uh. I suppose…" Bilbo stuttered, not being able to think. "Well, I don't really know, I never did much…courtship or anything." Bilbo said scratching his head.

"Well, it doesn't have to be perfect, just, in general." Lithôniel persisted.

"He's part of this group, isn't he?" Bilbo asked, the bright red that formed on her cheeks was answer enough.

"Well, then, I'd say that generally for any male, it would be through his stomach." Bilbo finally said. "And that's particularly true here because of the small rations."

"So, like a… pie?" Lithôniel asked hesitantly.

"Uh, well, yes. But we haven't seen anything to make a meat pie with for a long time." Bilbo said, but Lithôniel was already running ahead. "Oh dear."

"A pie?" Kili's face popped out from behind the tree, giving poor Bilbo a near heart attack, he'd completely forgotten about them.

"To one of us?" Fili popped out too with an eager expression on his face.

"No, Kili, Fili." Bilbo said firmly, he didn't want them to get their hopes up just to be squashed. And Lithôniel hated to disappoint people. "Didn't you hear what she asked me?"

"Yes, to someone she wants to notice her." Fili answered.

"That practically makes it positive it isn't you. You are always talking to her." Fili and Kili looked disappointed at the lost promise of pie.

Lithôniel paused at the edge of the road, they'd all told her repeatedly not to wander off the main trail they were following. But the berries were off the road, and she needed them to make her pie.

She couldn't believe that the Dwarves had never had a berry pie; she was going to have to fix that. What she didn't have she could easily substitute, but everything she needed was far off the road. Lithôniel bit her lip, they were going to find her missing, she had to hurry and make a decision.

Lithôniel shook her head free of doubts and plunged into the forest. It wasn't so bad, there were some nasty insects crawling around all slimy and green, but that was the worst part. She brushed past and a few minutes later she found what she was looking for. A patch of berry bushes were scattered between weeds and tall grass.

Lithôniel was not terribly surprised to find them all eaten clean till she finally came to one beneath a tree, not even touched, its roots intermingled with that of the tree's. She quickly filled her pouch with all the berries she needed plus some to snack upon.

She sharply looked around, she had the horrible sensation someone was watching her. But not even the tiniest leaf stirred. She turned back to the berry bush and frowned, feeling it still. But it came from above. She looked up and squinted her eyes, trying to see into the darkness.

"Who!" Lithôniel blinked and then laughed as an owl came flying from the foliage.

"You're such a sissy, Lithôniel." She chided herself as she continued gathering the other necessary ingredients. "Can you imagine what Fili and Kili would say? Silly, Silly!"

"Silly, silly!" Lithôniel's eyes widened, was that an echo? But it had sounded deeper. Or was that how her voice actually sounded?

"Hello?" Lithôniel said cautiously.

"Hello?" The deeper voice echoed back. Lithôniel's nose scrunched up in disgust. It was a fine voice if you were a male but for her to have that voice… Ugh, no!

She turned back to the tree and finished collecting the sap, and raced out of the area as fast as she could. She looked around wildly; this was not where she'd been earlier. She didn't recognize anything.

"Hey, where's Lithôniel?" Kili asked, it had been an hour since they'd heard her talking to Bilbo. Surely finding stuff for a pie didn't take that long.

"Yeah, where is she?" The question was taken up till it reached Thorin in the lead of their group. He actually looked concerned.

"Hey! There's her scarf!" Ori said pointing at the green cotton scarf she loved, it was caught on a bush, the bush's twigs were broken, it looked as if someone had brushed past them, making a trail into the forest.

"Curses! I told her not to go off the trail a thousand times!" Thorin roared. The Dwarves winced; they wondered if he would go along with his threat of leaving anyone who wandered off the trail. They all prayed not, they had all grown to love the human.

"I'll go find her." Kili volunteered, stepping forward to the edge of the road.

"Yeah, and I'll go too." Fili said, they were inseparable twins. With that they plunged into the forest, not waiting for Thorin to tell them they could.

The elves inwardly debated whether to help the pitiful human or not, she had stolen from their berry bush but she didn't do it purposely. Anyway, they liked to keep to themselves, they didn't need another problem. The girl suddenly stopped weeping at the sound of more than one person crashing through the brush to get to her.

"Fili! Kili!" Lithôniel cried, her tears stopping as they came into view. She smiled weakly at them and buried her face into Fili's shoulder. "I thought I was going to be stuck here forever."

"Why did you get off the road! You know we weren't supposed to!" Fili chided.

"Hey! Let her alone. She's learnt her lesson." Kili said defending her.

"C'mon, Thorin's mad." Fili said more gently.

To everyone's surprise some hours later, after they had camped for the night, though it was so dark in the woods they could not really tell whether it was night or day anymore, Lithôniel came walking towards them, a steaming pie in her hands. The dwarves stayed where they were with an amazing amount of effort. How had she made a pie in the middle of the wilderness?

"I was thinking- maybe we should all share?" Lithôniel squeaked, the Dwarves al laughed and lunged forward. And the hungry group became merry for a little while, singing and eating the delicious fruit pie.

"The greatest adventure,  
Is what lies ahead,  
Today and tomorrow,  
Are yet to be said,  
The chances the changes,  
Are all yours to make,  
The mold of your life,  
Is in your hands to break." Lithôniel sang to Bilbo after they had both finished their pie, gesturing for him to continue the song.

"The greatest adventure,  
Is there if your bold,  
Let go of the mood,  
That life makes you old!  
To measure the meaning,  
Can make you delay,  
You've got to stop thinking,  
And wasting the day." Bilbo grinned as Lithôniel started her verse.

"The man who's a dreamer,  
And never takes leave,  
Dreams of a world that is just make believe,  
Will never know passion,  
Will never know pain,  
One who sits by the window,  
Will one day see rain." Lithôniel finished and Bilbo blushed, knowing that she was thinking of what he'd told her, about making the decision to come. She reached over and hugged the little man and they sat in comfortable silence.

"What's that?!" Lithôniel cried in surprise days later. Beautiful warm twinkling lights shined from behind trees. Everyone halted; relieved to see the light after the long days they spent in Mirkwood. Bombur had been awake since yesterday and this seemed to be the end of their worries. The thought of leaving the forest gave Lithôniel's heart a little ache though she knew the dwarves hated it, not being able to tell night from day. But she found it made it all blend into one lazy dream.

"Let's go!" Bombur cried eagerly and rushed forward. With a smile, Lithôniel picked up her skirts and raced after him along with the rest of her friends. They all automatically slowed down, save Lithôniel, who didn't know what Elves looked like, when they saw the beings inside the clearing were Elves, singing and feasting. When they entered the clearing however, the light was extinguished and they were left in the cold darkness.

"Guys?!" Lithôniel cried in fright. "Is anybody there? Fili, Kili? Bombur?"

"We're right here, milady. Just keep talking and we'll go to towards you." Fili said soothingly, sensing her frantic state.

"Or sing. You could sing." Bombur said hopefully, his mother had sang to him when he was a child, he was ashamed to admit he needed singing now more than then.

"I'm too scared." Lithôniel whispered.

"Noting to be scared of, dear." Balin's voice came from her right. "Go ahead. Just try."

"May it be an evening star, shines down upon you. May it be when darkness falls; your heart will be true. You walk a lonely road, oh how far you are from home! Mornië utúlië! Believe and you will find your way. Mornië alantië! A promise lives within you now." Lithôniel stopped as she felt a warm hand grasp her arm.

"There you are! See? We're all together again." Balin said comfortingly, Lithôniel let out a shaky laugh.

"Where did you learn your song?" Fili asked, somewhere in front of her.

"My mama used to sing it to me every night. It was her lullaby." Lithôniel said softly.

"You did your job well." Thorin said. Lithôniel smiled, it was the closest thing to praise he'd ever given her.

"Now, onward!" Kili said cheerfully, masking the anxiety he felt for Lithôniel's sake. There was no going back home for her now.

"Look, the lights!" Lithôniel cried, the dwarves stopped again. This was the third time, and each time she had been the first to spot the distant flickering of candles from the elvish parties.

"This time we'll catch them!" Bombur cried, not to be discouraged. They ran toward the clearing half heartedly. The lights once again were extinguished.

"Not again!" Bilbo cried in frustration. There was no answer for a moment then a timid. "Bilbo?" from Lithôniel. "Lithôniel! Come this way!" Bilbo cried into the inky darkness.

"I'm coming. Where are you? Bilbo?" To Bilbo's horror, each time he spoke, she went farther in the opposite direction, she wasn't able to pinpoint his direction and she was too frightened to sing, Finally overcome with exhaustion, Lithôniel pressed her back against a tree and sat down, crying herself to sleep.

"Mm? Mama?" Lithôniel asked, standing up. It must be morning, for the sunlight was streaming through the canopy of leaves over head. Her mother stood in front of her, wearing her magnificent green cotton dress that she had always kept for visitors. The best thing in their threadbare house. "Mama!" Lithôniel cried, running into her mother's embrace with tears in her eyes. Her mama's warm arms suddenly became prickling and hairy.

**_Lithôniel woke with a jolt to see a gigantic spider towering above her. She screamed in panic as it reached down toward her, she couldn't move at all, encased in its web coffin._**

**_"Lithôniel!" She heard someone cry, then the spider fell back, momentarily stunned. Kili stood in front of her, bow stringed with another arrow. Fili ripped apart the coffin with his sword and helped her out._**

**_"Run!" Fili cried; Lithôniel didn't wait to be told again; she bolted off, the sound of the fighting behind her. She ducked behind a tree to catch her breath then climbed speedily up the tree like the squirrels she'd watched so often._**

**_The forest rang with silence, but not a peaceful silence. She finally gave up after ten minutes of impatient waiting. If her friends were dying she had to be there, shame filled her at her speedy thoughtless exit, she hadn't even thought of their safety. Something in her gut told her they weren't dead, though that was no excuse._**

**_"Balin, Dwalin?" Lithôniel whispered as she came into the clearing where they had been last "Bifur, Bofur? Fili, Kili? Anybody?" But no one answered. Lithôniel nearly smiled in relief as Bofur staggered into view._**

**_"Bombur! What happened? What has happened to you?" Lithôniel cried worriedly at the sight of the ragged dwarf._**

**_"I don't know." Bombur said, shaking his head. "The spider threw me against the tree when I tried to attack it and I just awoke. How much time has passed?"_**

**_"No more than twenty minutes since I so shamefully flew." Lithôniel said, feeling horrid for leaving._**

**_"Milady, we told you to go, and mighty relieved we were that you were safe. Do not worry yourself. Please." Lithôniel surprised the heavy dwarf by hugging him fiercely, she felt ready to cry. He laughed and patted her head. "Come on then, they can't be to far away if so little time has parted us."_**

**_"Are you sure we should go this way? Are you well enough?" Lithôniel asked in concern, they were heading the way they'd come from, with the clearing that had suddenly gone dark._**

**_"Yes, this was the way we'd been backed into." Bombur said trudging on in front of her so she didn't have to break the path through the forest. "And not to worry about me, we dwarves are resilient!"_**

**_"Ouch!" Bombur turned around in alarm. He smiled when he saw Lithôniel rubbing her neck only from a tiny red dot of blood._**

**_"I thought the spiders had come back." Bombur said with a laugh. Lithôniel cracked a smile, still rubbing her neck. It seemed to only make the annoying sting worse, she felt it spreading each time she tried to ease the feeling by rubbing it_**

**_"I think I would have made more noise than that." She said, shouldering her pack to a more comfortable position, trying to ignore the persistent sting in her neck._**

**_"Yes. You would have sounded like a wailing cat." Bombur said with a smirk as he remembered the sound that had pierced his dreams._**

**_"Will I ever outlive that?" Lithôniel asked grumpily._**

**_"I don't think so…" Bombur trailed off as he entered the clearing. It still held a smidge of evidence. Bilbo's handkerchief laid off to the side, cast away in a great hurry._**

**_"I don't see any footprints." Lithôniel said, referring to the end of the struggle trail they'd found._**

**_"I'm no tracker, but neither do I." Bombur said, looking back behind him anxiously. "I don't like this one bit. Something's not right at all."_**

**_"Maybe Grey came." Lithôniel said anxiously, not believing it either. Her hair was standing on end, she felt as if she were being watched. "Bombur?"_**

"Touch her and I'll kill you." Fili hissed from behind the gag the Elves had bound about his mouth. Kili struggled valiantly along with Gloin and Oin as Lithôniel came into view.

"Please, she has nothing to do with this!" Balin begged the Elves who watched Lithôniel shrewdly.

"Then why is she with a Dwarf? And so familiar with him?" Tauriel asked, turning to him with a cold glare. She turned slightly and gestured to an Elf with a type of flute. He blew lightly into it and a small dart went whizzing through the air, so fast and small the dwarves could barely make it out as a fly whizzing toward Lithôniel.

"Ouch!" Lithôniel cried, she reached up to touch her neck but the pin had inserted the poison and dropped off. The dwarves watched in horror, waiting for her to fall down dead.

"I thought the spiders had come back." Bombur said with a laugh. The Elves eyes widened as Lithôniel remained standing up and well, save an itchy red forming on her neck.

"Well." Tauriel said with a frown, turning once again to the dwarves. "We'll have to try it the other way." Kili and Fili looked back down at Lithôniel in alarm.

"NO!" Fili and Kili, Gloin and Oin cried simultaneously. Lithôniel and Bombur stopped and looked around in shock, hearing the tiny squeak.

"Bombur?" Lithôniel whispered. "What was that?"

"Probably a squirrel or something." Bombur said, he grabbed her shaking hands and smiled comfortingly.

"That wasn't a squirrel." Lithôniel whispered, turning at the sharp sound of a twig breaking. "That was a somebody."

"Argh!" Lithôniel whipped around as an arrow went whizzing by, scraping her arm. Bombur was gone.

"Bombur!" Lithôniel screamed. She whipped her arrow from under her skirt and fired a returning shot into the trees.

Bombur had been plopped unceremoniously by Dwalin and Balin. Fili's eyes widened as the arrow landed in the trunk of the tree a few inches from his head. Fili's surprise took a new turn as all the Elves smiled simultaneously.

Tauriel and three Elves jumped off the talan, and landed lightly on their feet. Lithôniel's eyes widened at the sight. Were these Elves? They all held bows, magnificently made, making her bow look like a cheap child's toy. Their hair was fair and fine, the leader had walnut colored hair and the other three were blondes. She kept her bow up and her arrow aimed, even as her left hand shook.

"Where are my friends?" Lithôniel demanded shakily.

"So you _are_ connected to them." The brown haired leader said, looking at her calculatingly. "You are guilty by association." Lithôniel's instincts barely kicked in time to jump out of the way as a blond leaped toward her.

"Whoa!" She cried, as she landed on the roots of the trees. The Elf that had tried to get her didn't seem to be experiencing the agony of defeat though. No, he was smiling.

"Á tulë asenyë." Tauriel said softly, but with a cold glitter in her eyes. (Come with me.)

"Are you Elves then?" Lithôniel asked quietly, she collected her wits and slowly brought her hand up behind her back. With a swift jerk she pulled her arrow from the quiver and stringed it within half a moment, pointing it in the direction of the leader's neck.

"I don't think you want to be doing this." She said with half a smile.

"I think I do." Lithôniel answered. "Now, please, tell me where my friends are."

"I think Thavron will show you." Tauriel said. The Elf man lunged forward again and easily tossed her bow to the side on the ground. Lithôniel dropped to her knees and rolled aside. She grabbed the first branch of the tree and started pulling herself up. The Elf stared at her silently for a moment as she tried to climb it as fast as she could without any foot holes to cling to. She reached the fourth branch and uneasily sat down. Thavron was still on the ground, looking up at her with the same amused expression on his face.

'Why won't he come up? Is he afraid of this tree? Are there spiders up here? She looked up at the top of the branches for a clue. Lithôniel wondered to herself, her apprehension growing the longer the seconds ticked by and the elf did nothing.

'They're playing with me!' Lithôniel realized with a start. 'Like cat and mouse!' The realization must've showed on her face because with another smile, the elf came racing up the tree. Lithôniel couldn't move, she could only gaze dumbfounded at him as he scaled the tree with quick easy movements, as if it was hardly different from breathing. She stood up on the branch trembling as he drew nearer. She desperately reached her arm up toward the fifth branch and found it just beyond her reach, a few inches up.

"Please!" Lithôniel begged the tree and her mother, if she was listening. Lithôniel's misted eyes widened as with a creak the tree's branch came down toward her, close enough that she could tightly grasp the rough bark and soft moss that grew on it. She pulled herself up and would have smiled in relief if she wasn't so scared. She swung her first foot over the branch with some difficulty and then desperately scrambled to get her hold back on the branch.

"Ah!" Lithôniel screamed as she was pulled off of the branch and dangled helplessly in the Elf's arms. Lithôniel screamed again as he jumped off the branch, the ground getting closer and closer, her life flashed before her eyes just like the leaves she bypassed by. Closing her eyes tightly, she tried to get rid of the images she was faced with. Thorin, Kili and Fili, Bombur, Bilbo, her dead mother.

And then suddenly, the wind stopped. Lithôniel opened her eyes and looked around wildly in fear. Thavron gazed down at her as if it was all very entertaining. Before she could recover, he tied her wrists together with a sharp twist of a rope, it was soft as silk, but impossible to break or get out of.

"Hey! Stop! Let me go!" Lithôniel cried, trying to kick him in the shins. He, however, easily caught the ankle and tied it to the other so that she was tottering on what seemed like one foot. "HELP!" Lithôniel screamed, the Elf winced at the shrillness of her voice and stuffed a handkerchief in her mouth.

"You're very noisy." He spoke for the first time; he swung her over his shoulder Shepard-style and somehow climbed up the tallest tree. Tauriel had gone back as soon as he had plucked her off the branch and was busy directing the packing of provisions. Thavron set her down gently by the twins and went to help the others.

"Lithôniel? Lithôniel? Are you all right?" Kili asked concernedly, finally working the gag out of his mouth, and wriggling over towards her. She slowly opened her eyes, they were bloodshot. "Lithôniel!"

"Kili…" Lithôniel whispered through her gag in pain, her arm had suddenly gone limp when the adrenaline of fear had gone away. Everything felt like an exertion. She was terribly cold and couldn't feel her legs either, only her right arm remained working, but she could feel the energy draining from her. "I'm so cold."

"No, no. You have a fever!" Kili whispered, her whole face was covered in a light sheen of perspiration, and the color in her cheeks was gone. He remembered the dart with a Dwarvish curse.

"What's the matter?" Fili whispered as he crawled over. He stared aghast at Lithôniel's pale face.

"Please… I'm so thirsty..." Lithôniel whispered, her tongue was dry even though the rest of her body shivered in the freezing temperature.

"Kili! Fili! What has happened?" Bofur whispered.

"She's poisoned." Fili hissed. They couldn't do anything but stare at Lithôniel, their arms and legs were bound. They heard Bofur gasp and then spread the word to the others in a hushed sad tone.

"What?!" Gloin shouted as he received the news. The talan became totally silent; all the Elves trained their full attention on the Dwarves. Tauriel's gaze turned from the dwarves all huddled together to Fili and Kili who were beside Lithôniel with concerned expressions, whispering to each other as they tried to take off the rope around their wrists, not noticing the hard gazes they'd earned.

Tauriel took long strides toward Lithôniel from the opposite of the talan. Gloin's stubbornness took over and he crawled into her path, blocking her with his body though he knew she could easily step over him. Bombur bravely took the cue and wiggled over too, Tauriel's gaze turned into an icy glare at the defiance they showed.

"You will not touch Lithôniel!" Gloin growled. "We do not need Elves to hurt her more."

"Stubborn Dwarf." Tauriel said, shoving him to the side with her boot and sidestepping Bombur who was heavier. Enraged cries came from the dwarves as she neared their friends.

"Come no nearer!" Kili cried, turning around as fast as he could with bindings. "You have hurt her enough! Heca!" When Tauriel did not listen and only stopped when she was leaning over them Kili slammed his skull against the back of her knee. Now, dwarves have an amazingly thick skull, meaning it does not break easily and it's strong enough to do some damage. The Elf's knee buckled for a moment, she whipped around angrily and kicked him to the side. Kili glared defiantly at her though, and quickly crawling back to Lithôniel's side.

"Fili!" Lithôniel wailed suddenly as another wave of pain washed through her, starting at her shoulder and going to her very toes.

A teardrop rolled down her face and onto the floor and changed into a silver diamond, the size of an acorn.

"Elë!" an Elf cried, seeing it all the way from the other side of the talan. "En!"

"Tiro! Mir!" The cry was raised by the elves, somehow soft enough that Lithôniel was not awoken from her trance. Kili and Fili froze in fright at the look in Tauriel's eyes. She brushed Fili aside like a fly and knelt down beside Lithôniel. Kili lunged forward to bite her hand that she reached to touch Lithôniel with but she punched his mouth. Kili winced, trying to ignore the pain in his jaw as he watched her pick up the diamond and roll it around in her palm. She looked more sharply at Kili and Fili and realized why they'd tried so hard to keep her away. She looked at the girl and signaled her second in command.

"Who are you?" Tauriel asked herself, bathing the girl's head. The elven water had quickly helped stop the fever and now the girl dozed lightly, waking every now and then to mutter things. The girl seemed to think that Tauriel was her Mama.

The dwarves were still fighting, trying to get back to their friend but it was obviously useless. Tauriel had dispatched a messenger to the Elvenking about the odd girl that had cried three diamonds and pearls and somehow made the tree move. Yes, she was very odd indeed.

"Mama… where's papa?" Lithôniel asked, tightening her hug around Tauriel's waist. The girl had been latched onto her since she first fell asleep, making it impossible to do anything, so Tauriel had been forced to give her second in command leadership for a time. But still, it was nice. She didn't just sit and look at the stars anymore, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

"Who is your papa?" Tauriel asked.

"I-I don't know." Lithôniel said, another tear turning into a diamond which she quickly pocketed. "Dead with mama." Tauriel had been earning many snippets of information through her conversation with the sleep-talking human.

"Captain!" Tauriel turned, her second in command Faróth quickly made his way towards her. "We're ready."

"Good. Tell Thavron to come get her." She pointed at the girl in her lap. "I want the dwarves in a single file down at the floor. No one escapes."

"Already done." Thavron said, quickly releasing his captain of the human. She stood, and started shouting commands again. Thavron and Faróth exchanged smiles.

"What do you think the King will do? About the human?" Dúlin asked, he'd been the first to catch sight of the precious jewel as it formed from the human's tear.

"She can't be human." Thavron said. "Unless she dabbles in the dark magic."

"Either way, our Arán will know what to do and what she is." Faróth replied.

"Where is Lithôniel?! Where is she?" Thavron sighed as the shouts were taken up again, the Dwarves were so annoying.

"Prince Legolas and Princess Vanessë are most anxious to see them, I hear." Faróth said.

"Ay. Children." Dúlin shook his head. "They act as if the Dwarves are cats or something. They don't understand."

"But they'll understand sooner than anyone would like." Thavron said softly.

"Thavron! Bring the girl!" Tauriel called from the ground.

"Balin?" Lithôniel whispered as she woke up.

"I am right here, Lithôniel." Balin said, patting her head through the iron bars. She sat up like a shot and looked around.

"Where are we? What happened?" Lithôniel asked in alarm, it was dark save a few lanterns scattered about but she knew she was in a cell. The last thing she could remember was falling from the tree with her abductor.

"We're in the dungeons. The elves captured us." Kili said grimly from her right, she looked and saw him and Fili both in the same cell, though Balin was alone.

"Everyone?" Lithôniel asked heart brokenly.

"No, Bilbo and Thorin are still out there somewhere." Fili said, smiling tiredly at her. "We thought we'd lost you."

"What do you mean?" Lithôniel asked in confusion.

"You got really sick, when that sting hit your neck, you remember. That was poison from the Elves. You almost died."

"How did I get better?" Lithôniel asked curiously, it was like she was hearing a story about somebody else.

"The Elves." Balin admitted after a few silent moments, Fili and Kili hated the Elves now more than ever, after seeing what they did. Balin still wanted peace however, and he wanted her to know the whole truth. "You weren't supposed to get it so bad. The poison was made from the diluted juice of hemlock. It was supposed to send you right to sleep, the instant it touched you, but something went wrong." Balin said, Fili and Kili looked up at him with a glare. "You have something inside of you, Lithôniel, something very special, that makes you cry crystals and resist poisons. Your body was fighting too hard against the poison and so that is what happened. Your body ended up being a battleground."

"Why do you side with the elves?!" Kili cried at Balin angrily. "They hurt her!"

"I do not side with them; I am merely stating the facts." Balin replied tiredly at the young dwarves.

"I can't do this! I need out! Let me out!" Lithôniel cried, shaking the bars of the cage, not even paying attention to the Dwarves' argument. She had never told anyone, but she was afraid of enclosed spaces, away from the fresh air and trees. She rattled the bars again and started crying.

"Lithôniel! You're ok, you're alright!" Fili cried, seeing her distress. "Stop! What's the matter?"

"I can't be in here!" Lithôniel sobbed, staggering back and laying down on her bench.

"You don't like enclosed spaces?" Balin asked, recognizing it from a human he'd once brought into the mines of his old home. She nodded behind her hands.

"Hey, come here." Kili said reaching his hands through the bars. She took them shakily.

"We're going to escape, all right? We're going to be fine, ok?" Fili said. Lithôniel shook her head vehemently, still sobbing.

"Yes, we are." Kili said, shaking her shoulders gently. "And then…" The sound of the door from the top of the staircase shutting stopped his words and her tears. She gazed, agape, as the faint footsteps of elves going down the winding staircase echoed. She clutched Kili's hands tighter as the footsteps approached their three cells. Tauriel looked coldly at the three dwarves and the human that had been crying.

"Her." Tauriel said, pointing at Lithôniel. Lithôniel's eyes widened in fear as they unlocked the iron door. Kili tightened his hold on her hands as the Elves entered her cell.

"Kili! Fili!" Lithôniel screamed through her misty eyes as the Elf guards grabbed her shoulders to pull her away.

"No!" Fili cried grabbing hold of her arms, but with one swift wrench they pulled her out of their grasp.

"Balin!" Lithôniel cried, thrashing wildly, as they carried her out of the cell.

"Let her go! Lithôniel!" Kili shouted, shaking the iron so hard it bent, but would not break.

"Lithôniel!" Balin cried. But the elves refused to listen to their heartfelt pleas and walked quickly back up the steps with the human girl who was in shock, not moving and barely breathing.

"You $^&#*'s!" Fili shouted, he sat back down in disbelief, leaning his head into his hands.

"My Lord, this is the girl." Lithôniel was set rather gently onto the floor; she looked up in fear and scrambled back as a tall majestic man with a crown of red leaves and berries walked towards her. He had straight citrine-colored hair and cold wizened blue eyes.

"Hey!" Bofur and Ori stood to the left, just having been interrogated. "Lithôniel!" Just like Tauriel, all the man had to do was wave his hand and they were dragged from the room none to gently, for Elves were not overly fond of dwarves.

Lithôniel looked back at the Elvenking in front of her, wondering what they were going to do to her. She closed her eyes and put her face in her hands. She let out a squeak of fear as someone pulled her up onto her feet.

"Who are you?" She heard someone ask, but she refused to open her eyes. Suddenly she felt a tugging on her mind, as if someone was trying to get inside. She screamed in pain as the same feeling happened again harder. She fell on her back and tried to block out the magic but it was persistent.

"Who are you?" It seemed as if a thousand people were echoing those words around her. At the next sharp pain she pushed her arms out and hit whoever was trying to get her to stand up without looking. Suddenly, the pain was transferred from her mind to her eyes, they felt like they were on fire, and she was blind never to see anything again.

"Mama!" she screamed. Then the pain was gone, just as suddenly as it had come, she slowly cracked open her watery eyes and saw the sparkle of diamonds surrounding her. She looked up in fright as a cold metal spear touched her neck.

"Alda hen…" the king above her said, recognizing them, "You are Salch's iellig?" Lithôniel crawled away from the spear but it followed her, remaining beside her neck. She didn't really understand where she was or what he was saying.

"My Lord, she doesn't speak Elvish." A new blond came up to say with a younger blond female beside her.

"Legolas, Vanessë, I thought I told you to stay away till I called for you." The Elvenking turned away to speak to them.

"She has green eyes!" Vanessë squealed, reaching down to touch the human. The girl scuttled back till she hit the guards behind her. She was trapped. "And her hair's darker than Tauriel's!"

"Oh, Daddy! Can I keep her? Please!" Vanessë cried, kneeling beside the trembling human. Lithôniel blinked, this was the princess? She wondered where the Prince was.

"No, you can't keep her." Legolas said, annoyed. "She's not a doll."

"But I want to!" Vanessë shouted, ready to wail and scream till she was given what she wanted.

"Out!" Tauriel cried, she along with all the other elves in Mirkwood were quite used to Vanessë's tempers and the only thing to do with her when she wanted something was lock her up or give it to her. This way, they'd at least have some time to decide where to lock her up in.

"Fine!" Vanessë pouted, stomping out, which was difficult for Elves to do. Legolas followed her, understanding he was not needed there.

"How could this be Salch's daughter, my Lord?" Tauriel asked, turning back to her King. "He died many years ago."

"How old are you?" Thranduil asked, Lithôniel didn't answer, she figured the more she told the worse this would be. She stared at the marble floor silently, trying to catch her breath, her heart still racing and it felt as if it would never beat normally again. "How many summers have you seen?"

""

"Do not worry yourself over such matters, my Lord. I will find out." Tauriel said smoothly. "But I do not know what to do with the Nogoth."

"They will stay there until they are ready to tell the truth." Lithôniel found she was suddenly very sleepy; she laid her head on the comfortingly cool marble and allowed her mind to drift towards sleep.

"I am positive this girl could be leverage." Tauriel said softly, she was sure after seeing the Dwarves' reactions when they came to take her away. Thranduil nodded, looking over at the sleeping form, Tauriel was excellent with the power she'd been born with, relaxing someone into sleep. "Put her in a bedroom then, I leave her in your care. I am sure you know what to do." Thranduil said, Tauriel bowed and smiled secretly.


	2. Chapter 2

"What's her name?" Vanessë asked, trailing behind her much older brother.

"Who?" Legolas asked, not bothering to look back.

"The pretty human girl." Vanessë said with a your-such-an-idiot tone of voice.

"Lithôniel. She came with the Dwarves. Vanessë, do not bother anyone with your odd whims." Legolas said, pushing through the brush.

"Ok." Vanessë said, smiling evilly though Legolas unfortunately did not see it. She quietly raced off, back towards the palace. Oh yes, Vanessë was very good at finding things she wanted and she knew exactly where her next 'whim' was.

"Lithôniel!" Vanessë smiled as she found the girl in the blue room. That was one of the rooms that had locks on it. Thank be, though because she happened to have a stick that helped her get inside somehow, she'd found it in the armory. Vanessë was very tall for her age, and found herself delightfully like her Father in a more feminine way, meaning she always got what she wanted and didn't care how she did it.

"Come on!" Vanessë said to her best friend, Oródben. Or more, her personal slave who did whatever she wanted him to. Together, they pulled the girl off the bed and up the stairs into her bedroom.

Now, creepily, when Vanessë had been deemed old enough to pick a new bedroom she'd chosen the room in a semi-turret. It had once, very long ago, in fact so long ago that it had been in the beginning of her Father's father's reign that it had last been used. As a place to keep prisoners. There was a small secret room that few knew of where food was stored, and she had turned it into her personal closet/ hideaway room. When she had announced her intention of moving in there, there was a great deal of worry and the elves removed all the chains hooked to the walls and painted over the dirty walls and practically remodeled it. But still it held a sort of haunting-ness to it, which somehow she never seemed to feel. But the other elves tried to avoid that room as much as possible and whispered that perhaps one day Vanessë would be a soul-speaker.

Now Vanessë dragged the sound asleep human into her tiny secret room and layered her with blankets and pillows beside her dolls. Then she sent Oródben away telling him he'd never seen anything.

Vanessë set to making her bed, which she'd ruined awfully when her temper had struck and she was locked in the bedroom by Thavron. Her ears perked when she heard a faint sound from her secret room. She was about to open the door to investigate when the door slammed against the wall as it opened.

Her newest doll was looking around like a squirrel trapped by a wolf. When her doll saw Vanessë her eyes widened. She tried to push past her but Vanessë stood steadfastly in her path. Lithôniel didn't know what to do; this elf couldn't be more than eleven in human years. She didn't want to hurt her but she also definitely did not plan on staying in the tiny stuffy room one minute longer. She moved to the side but so did the elf-child.

"Please move." Lithôniel asked, she felt as if she was going to suffocate.

"No!" the child said petulantly, Lithôniel began to remember the girl. Who'd wanted to keep her like a pet?

"I don't want to hurt you." Lithôniel begged but the child remained stubbornly in the way. Lithôniel blinked rapidly when a shining jewel was suddenly shoved in her face. She stared at in surprise; Vanessë took the chance and pushed another necklace over her head and onto her neck that was made in the same shape. She reached up to touch it and was stung.

She looked up at the young child in shock; Lithôniel decided that she needn't bother with this at the moment and tried to push the elf child out of the way. The necklace stung her throat mercilessly and she fell back inside the room, the breath knocked out of her.

"Good girl." Vanessë cried brightly, addressing her like her dog. "Now come on. Back inside. Go back to bed." Lithôniel only stared at her in shock, not moving an inch. A stronger zap stole her breath again. She clutched her throat, trying to get the air to flow in normally again but she could only take large gulping breathes like she'd been underwater.

"You're very bad." Vanessë said disapprovingly. "We're going to have to lock you up. Then maybe you'll be good." Still gasping for breath, she wasn't quite aware of what was happening as Vanessë dragged her back into the tiny room she'd felt so sick in and drop her beside the makeshift bed.

The elves had taken down all the chains.

Except one.

She had never allowed anyone into her secret room so only her Father knew how to even get in. There was one set of chains on the opposite wall that she imagined must have been for faeries, since it seemed ridiculous for anyone to have such small wrists. But, as it turned out, examining the cuffs they would just fit the girl's wrists.

Vanessë went back to Lithôniel and dragged her over to the wall. She got some very painful punches in the stomach but she managed to latch her into them. The girl started crying diamonds so then she had to be careful where she stepped.

The Elves hadn't found it because it was situated in an old wardrobe, so with some difficulty she managed to hide her in there with all her dresses just as the sound of someone knocking on her door sounded outside of the secret room. With wide eyes Vanessë slammed the door shut, not worried the human wouldn't have enough air because she'd hid there herself so many times.

She raced out of the secret room, smoothed her hair and opened the door with her most polite, if not condescending, smile. Her older brother stared at her suspiciously; usually she would open the door and scream for him to go away. How odd.

"Vanessë, have you been in your secret room today?" Legolas asked.

"No." Vanessë lied with an annoyed frown.

"Ok, you with me." Tauriel said to Thavron and Dúlin.

"Wait, what's happening?" Vanessë cried.

"The human's missing; she was in the blue room. We've looked everywhere except here. She could have accidentally found your little room and is hiding there." Dúlin said patiently. Inside, Legolas thought that his evil little sister might've hidden her in there, but how could she have gotten her upstairs?

"I don't want you in my room! Papa said it's only for me!" Vanessë wailed.

"Your Father gave us express permission." Tauriel said. "He also told us how to get in so if you don't mind." She brushed past Vanessë with Dúlin and Thavron and softly walked towards the secret opening. She knocked three times and a crack appeared in the wall. She pried it open and the door was wide open. They walked in and looked around, remaining silent.

"See? Now go away!" Vanessë cried triumphantly.

"What's this?" Thavron asked, looking at the line of diamonds that made a trail to the wardrobe. He took two long steps and opened the door. A pile of dresses was all he found; he stuck his arm inside the pile to Vanessë's furious cries. He pulled out a hunk of dark brown hair and gained a pained scream from the pile. Quickly reaching in both arms he pulled out Lithôniel, dresses and scarves clinging to her. Her eyes were bloodshot from tears and her whole face was pink.

"VANESSË!**"** Legolas shouted unabashedly in front of the guards as the handcuffed hands came into view.

"What?!" Vanessë shouted back.

"You can't shackle her!" Legolas said, he looked like he wanted to murder the Princess badly so Dúlin stepped in between them. He was shocked himself, but he couldn't let the Prince do something he might later regret.

"You're going to have to speak to your Father." Tauriel said turning around and glaring at the young Elf.

Lithôniel sniffed as they untied her and opened her mouth to say something but she got another sting from the necklace. She closed her mouth with a snap and the sting went away.

"Vanessë, take that off." Tauriel said, pointing at the necklace. It was meant for training pets, not humans, she could only imagine what the human had been going through. "Now." Tauriel said more firmly when she refused to do it. With a petulant frown she obeyed and took the necklace off. Lithôniel looked traumatized and still did not speak.

"Bring her back down to the blue room." Tauriel commanded as Legolas left with a kicking and screaming Vanessë. She was an extremely spoiled princess, thank the Valar Legolas was set to inherit Mirkwood instead. At least he had some sense.

"Where is she?! Where is Lithôniel?!" Kili cried, standing up as soon as the face of an elf appeared in the dim light cast by the lanterns. He didn't know what to think, an hour ago, Balin and Kili had been carted off to who knows where

"You would like to know where your friend is. We'd like to know what you were doing in Mirkwood. How about an exchange?" Tauriel asked. The Dwarf's face immediately lost its color, and his face was the battlefield of his emotions. To save the girl or to keep to the brotherhood of the Dwarves. What a decision.

"Kili!" the shrill scream echoed around him, he looked wildly for Lithôniel but she was nowhere to be seen, but her scream continued echoing through his mind. With a snap of her fingers the voice disappeared from his mind. He glared at her hard; hating her for everything, Tauriel was grimly satisfied.

"I'll never tell you." Kili said angrily. "No matter what you do to me."

"So. You are just like all the others. I thought you were different, cared for something besides yourself." Tauriel said harshly. "But you are a Dwarf." Kili understood this was probably one of the deepest insults he could receive from an elf, and it made his heart to twist a little, at what she was accusing him of. But he reminded himself that was what she wanted. Tauriel didn't leave, just stared at him for a long while, rarely blinking. She finally left, even her faint footsteps echoed disappointment.

Tauriel and her twin had lost their Father a good forty years ago. To a Dwarf. She wanted their race to feel the pain she and Melcístima had felt that day when they brought him home. When they buried him underneath the oak tree she gazed at now. She would never forgive, never forget. She knew her sister would agree to help, they were much alike.

"Thavron, I need you to make me something. By tomorrow." Tauriel said.

"Anything." Thavron answered. "What is it you want?"

She came to Kili; he was pacing inside the cell. "What do you want?" Kili growled at the sight of her.

"I thought you might want to stretch." Tauriel said smoothly. She couldn't help but smile. The Dwarves would finally feel the same pain she had.

"I don't care for the outside. I'm a dwarf remember. My home is in the mountains. No matter what you tempt me with, I won't tell you."

"Ah. But this wasn't to tempt you with." Tauriel said. "Now, come along." Kili didn't know what to say when he was faced with the sight of his friend.

"Kili!" Fili cried, overjoyed at the sight of his brother, alive and well. He'd thought when they brought him and Balin away that they were going to kill him.

Tauriel smiled at the joyous reunion, this was just too perfect. For a half an hour she didn't interrupt them as they talked, she and her guards were thrown many anxious glance until finally their conversation started dwindling.

A song started up, stopping their conversation. The song was full of darkness, a mourning song. It was a funeral.

"What…?" Fili trailed off as a body came floating down the stream.

"Lithôniel!" Kili cried as he saw the brown hair floating around the pale face. "_LITHÔNIEL!_" But the cold soulless body just kept flowing down the stream, not even an eyelash was fluttered. Kili rushed past the Elves to wade into the stream to go get her. Tauriel pulled him out roughly, he was soaked to the beginning of his torso.

"What? What is the matter, Dwarf?" Tauriel asked. The guards had already dragged the anguished Fili inside and back towards his cell. "Isn't this what you wanted? At least your secret is safe! She'll never be able to tell us now." Kili could only stare at the body as it drifted away from him. She was gone.

With tears in his eyes Kili turned his rage towards the Elf, his people's enemy. His enemy. Thavron intervened when he came back, both were still going strong, both black and blue, both letting out all their pent up hatred for the other. He none-to-gently pushed Tauriel away and dragged the Dwarf away, still kicking and fighting in a blind rage.

After the Elf had deposited him back in his cell, Kili did something he had not done for many years, he cried. In fact, he wept, he wept for Lithôniel but mainly, he wept for himself, that he would be stuck in the forsaken world while she went to a happier place, where she need never worry again.

"Kili! Where are you?" Kili could faintly hear her beautiful ringing voice that had always seemed like a cool breeze that would refresh a worker while working. He silently listened, tears still streaming down his face. He knew that soon, very soon, the voice would fade away till he could not quite remember the sound, the memory just beyond his reach.

"Lithôniel…" Kili whispered. And he realized with a painful jerk, he'd never told her. He'd never said, and perhaps he'd never known really. But he loved her.

"Ugh!" Lithôniel cried, she had been slamming into the door for a half an hour like a battering ram but to no avail. She didn't know what to do anymore. She didn't know if her friends were ok, she didn't know anything.

It wasn't that she disliked the room. It was nice, the walls were the darkest blue she'd ever seen, it had stars delicately painted it and a sliver of a moon. There was dark oaken furniture for her clothes and items, if she actually had any, and a table in the corner for tea. The room smelled of ginger cookies, and the air carried the faint sound of singing from somewhere far away. But she couldn't stay here, locked away from her friends, her only family.

"Will you just stop?" Tauriel said crossly. It was annoying to have to hear the same thunk over and over again as the human kept trying to blow through the door. Lithôniel slid to the floor in despair, leaning her forehead against the cool door. She could feel the beginning of tears coming on. The human started muttering something under her breath, so quietly even she, an elf, could not hear.

"I almost wish we'd left you shackled up." The human's eyes widened in fear at the memory. "Go to bed. No matter how many times you do that, it won't break, but you could give yourself a concussion." Lithôniel looked at the bed suspiciously; she'd never actually seen a bed so she wasn't sure what it actually was. But the Elf kept referring to it as a bed. Lithôniel frowned; the bed here was all white with huge blankets on top and some sort of tiny mattress' at the head.

"That's not a bed." Lithôniel finally said. "Beds are on the ground, that's on a table. And it's all fluffy. And why are there small 'mattresses' on top?" Tauriel was almost surprised; this minor human didn't know what a real bed was. The story was getting more complicated by the minute. How pitiful.

"Come here." Tauriel dragged the human over to the bed and plunked her on. She threw the blankets over the girl's face and left the room, rolling her eyes.

It was nice actually. She felt herself sinking into it. It was softer than anything she'd ever felt before. She couldn't help but smile, even the small mattresses were nice, and they were comfortable for her neck. But where were her friends? The momentary happiness was stolen away by the thought and her whole body automatically stiffened. She had to find them.

She waited for four hours, they all were probably asleep by then, and she could hardly keep her own eyes open, which was saying a lot since she had always been able to stay awake longer than normal. She crawled out of her bed and turned the handle on the door. It went halfway then stopped. Lithôniel groaned, she'd forgotten that this door had a lock on it, hers at home had had one long ago when she was a child but it broke and her Mama never left home to buy a new one so they were unguarded by even a simple lock.

Perhaps… Lithôniel remembered the lock picker Fili had given her when they'd started out on their journey. It was very nice and had been safely hidden in her mass of brown hair. She pulled it out; it looked just like a hairpin, and did her best to recall Fili's instructions.

"Twist halfway…" she muttered to herself. A triumphant grin lighted up her face as the sound of the lock unlocking was heard. "Thank you, Fili!" She whispered under her breath.

"Where are you going?" Lithôniel screamed and stumbled back as the face of an Elf regarded her suspiciously. "I'll take that, thank you." Lithôniel could only gape as he took her lock picker.

"But that's mine!" Lithôniel cried, finally recognizing the Elf's face from this afternoon. "That's mine!" He seemed to ponder this.

"Yes, but since you tried ton escape with it, I can confiscate it as evidence." Legolas shook his head. "You sound like my sister, 'That's mine!'" He mimicked. Lithôniel felt her face burning.

"How did you catch me?" Lithôniel asked, frustrated at his rudeness, her lack of escape, everything. "At this hour everyone should be asleep!"

"We _are_ Elves." Legolas said as if that should explain everything.

"I don't know anything about Elves except what I've seen so far." Lithôniel said, crossing her arms.

"Ok, what do you know then?" Legolas asked.

"Your all jerks with pointy ears and all really tall and, and…" Lithôniel trailed off, she didn't know much more. "And just very mean!"

"We're not jerks. I admit that you've had a pretty bad go at it so far, but that's because you're all being stubborn! All we want to know is why you were trespassing on my land!" Legolas cried.

"Your land? Who do you think you are, the Prince?!" Lithôniel shouted and slapped him as hard as she could. His face was coldly calm though, the same look as the King. "Oh my gosh. You're the Prince." What had she done? She'd just slapped the prince! Her mouth opened and closed, trying to form the words of apology, but nothing came out.

"Oh gosh, um, I uh…" Lithôniel finally sputtered in fright. "Look, I'm so sorry, I didn't know. Please accept my apology. I am _really_ sorry."

"You wouldn't have been sorry if I weren't the Prince." Legolas noted. "Would you?"

"No." I answer; my hands are trembling even as I try to stop it by putting them into fists. "But please. Please don't tell the King."

"I won't." Legolas answered. Lithôniel couldn't help but be surprised; she hadn't expected him to be so kind about it. From the Dwarves' stories, what she'd done was worthy of a beheading.

5

5 


End file.
